Turntable noobie...what advice do you have?

Arg.. I hate when I write on my phone and I loose a good post..

Anyway here is the short version.

To get the full performance from the line contact stylus that you have bought, both on clean or dirty records 😜 then fix SRA/VTA setup.

Those that use conical stylus can use the old tip to "put the tone arm parallel to the record surface" or whatever when there with conical it doesn't matter at all what angle that is used.

(Strange that nobody has said that but probably it is more fun to buy yet another machine (USC) First make a good setup.)

@bdp24 , And you can get a conductive grounded sweep arm that not only discharges your record but sweeps the incidental dust away from the stylus when playing for.... hold your breath.....$30.00. This video is a little goofy and it neglected to mention that the right pivot to spindle distance is 7 inches. It also tracks better if you have  the pivot end 1/4" high. 

I did not say clean records are not important. What I said was new records do not need to be cleaned. They only need the incidental dust swept away. Think about it. The stampers are used over and over again. I think it is something like 1000 records per stamper pair. If there was any contamination on the stampers ridges it would seriously screw up at least the high frequency performance of the record if not worse. There is absolutely nothing in the grooves of a new record just some dust on the surface which can be easily swept away. The cleaning industry had to create this myth to get more of us to buy cleaning equipment. Used record buyers would not be enough of a market. Many new records are noisy, bad pressings. The noise is imbedded in the vinyl. You can not clean it away but, this adds to the myth anyway. 

One ridiculous thing I see over and over again in the VC is putting their bookshelf speakers on the same surface as their turntable is on!  Huge no-no and should be obvious to anyone doing that!  The sound will distort and feedback from lack of isolation!  Dont be that guy!

mijostyn

I disagree in the extreme that new records are contaminated and need to be cleaned. Just sweeping the incidental dust out of the way will do ... new records do not need to be cleaned. They only need the incidental dust swept away ... If there was any contamination on the stampers ridges it would seriously screw up at least the high frequency performance ... The cleaning industry had to create this myth to get more of us to buy cleaning equipment.

Clean records are not a "myth." LPs are not pressed in clean rooms and can attract dust after they've been pressed and before they're inserted into a sleeve and jacket. And of course once an LP is placed on a turntable, its static charge immediately attracts dust.

@mijostyn you are obviously happy to use a sweep arm to remove "incidental" dust. That doesn't make those who aren't satisfied with that approach mythologists. Some day I hope you'll hear a properly cleaned LP and that your mind will be sufficiently open to recognize the difference between it and that for which you argue so incessantly.

Believe me, I didn't want to spend big $$$$ on a Klaudio US cleaner. But I just don't have the patience to use my Nitty-Gritty record cleaner on every LP. The one-button operation of the Klaudio is almost as convenient as your sweep arm. But, it is much, much more effective.